


Together Forever

by Starra



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Ending, Blood, Crying, Earthquakes, Engagement, Heavy Angst, Hope vs. Despair, M/M, Natural Disasters, Swearing, Trapped, What Have I Done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 02:40:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17417480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starra/pseuds/Starra
Summary: Ash has been living with Eiji in Japan. On New Year's Day, the two of them go to the local shrine to pray for good luck. Ash makes Eiji tell him his wish, which is that he wants them to stay together forever. And yes, he means it in that sense.Sing comes to visit some months later, and is ecstatic to hear of their engagement. While Ash and Eiji are in Tokyo shopping with Sing, the area is struck by a violent earthquake.Written for Banana Fish Angst Week. Prompt: Jan 12 - Forever





	1. What Did You Wish For?

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm super late but uhh I finally came up with something I wanted to write. It's longer than I intended it to be, oops.
> 
> Also I haven't done Jan 11th's prompt yet because I haven't been in the mood to write the idea I have. 
> 
> READ THE TAGS. This does not end well!

Japan was just as safe as Eiji had said it would be. No guns, no violence. Ash was sure there were things going on behind the scenes, but on the surface, it was a peaceful country. People went about their day-to-day lives without worrying about being killed.

 

It had taken Ash a while to get used to not carrying his gun around everywhere, and the Tokyo crowds were sometimes suffocating, but at least Izumo wasn't swarming with people. It was a quiet town, and people lived at a slow pace. Eiji's family had been welcoming, Eiji's old high school friends were very fascinated by this foreigner who had suddenly turned up, and Ash was more than happy to be shown off by Eiji.

 

On New Year's Day, Eiji had taken Ash to the local shrine to pray for good fortune and whatever else it was that he'd said they did. Ash wasn't in any way religious, but he went along with it for the cultural experience, and there was no real reason to say no to Eiji.

 

"So what did you wish for?" Ash asked Eiji after they'd finished praying (Ash hadn't really wished for anything himself, he felt odd praying to gods he didn't believe in, but he didn't tell Eiji that).

"...I can't tell you," Eiji pouted. "It'll make the wish not come true!"

Ash laughed. "Yeah, sure," he said, grinning. "You're just too embarrassed to tell me!"

"It..." Eiji looked away as his cheeks turned pink. "It was about... you..." His voice grew quieter with every word.

Ash felt himself blushing at that. "What, did you wish for me to stop being such an asshole and actually learn how to wake myself up in the mornings?" He grinned again. Teasing Eiji was fun.

"N-No..." Eiji mumbled, his cheeks growing redder. "I... Alright," he sighed, turning to face Ash again. "I wished for us to be happy... forever. Together."

Ash didn't know what to say to that. "Like..." he tried to figure out what Eiji meant. "Like, uh... _forever_ forever?"

Eiji nodded, his face now extremely red. "Forever forever," he repeated.

 

Was this a marriage proposal? In a place like _this_?

 

"Now you have to tell me what _you_ wished for!" Eiji said with a grin. "It's only fair!"

He had a point. "Uh..." Ash had to think of a wish. "T-That... we'd be able to always be together." It wasn't entirely a lie: it _was_ what Ash truly wanted. He just hadn't prayed for it.

Eiji smiled at him, taking Ash's hands in his. Which was a bit awkward as they were both wearing thick gloves (it was winter, after all). Eiji looked happier than Ash had seen him in ages. "Let's do that," he said, his voice shaking. "Let's be together forever. Just the two of us. I promise I'll make you happy, Ash."

"Eiji," Ash sighed blissfully, intertwining his and Eiji's fingers and resting their foreheads together. "You already make me happy. I feel like I'm the happiest and luckiest man in the world when I'm with you. If we can keep being together for the rest of our lives... I wouldn't need anything more."

"T-Thank y-ou," Eiji said as tears started gently falling down his beetroot-coloured cheeks. "I... I love you, Aslan."

Being referred to by his real name so lovingly -- so gently -- made Ash tear up slightly too. "I love you too, Eiji," he whispered.

 

They left the shrine hand-in-hand, both men smiling to themselves.

 

Eiji's sister asked them why they looked so happy once they got back home, but neither wanted to tell her. Ash didn't want to say anything in case he'd misinterpreted what Eiji had meant, and Eiji scolded his sister for being nosy.

 

Ash decided that he did actually want to clarify their earlier conversation, because while it really did sound like a marriage proposal to him, Eiji may have, in fact, meant it more in a platonic sense. Not that their relationship was entirely platonic, of course, but Ash had realised that he and Eiji had different ideas about relationship boundaries due to cultural differences. One time, Ash had introduced himself as Eiji's boyfriend, and Eiji had been extremely confused and embarrassed and wasn't sure if Ash had been being serious or not (he was being serious). For clarification, they were currently 'boyfriends'.

 

"So, Eiji," Ash began while they were squished together in the Okumura family's bath. It wasn't a very big bath, but Ash didn't like bathing alone, and Eiji's sister always complained that he took baths that were far too long as well, so the two of them managed to cram themselves in it after washing each other.

"Yeah?" Eiji asked, looking over at Ash, who was sitting at the opposite end of the bath to him.

"Uh... About earlier," Ash continued, lowering his voice, "Were you, uh, trying to propose to me?"

Ash had expected Eiji to flail about and tell him off for thinking something so silly. Instead, Eiji pulled his knees to his chest and whispered, "Yes." He paused before adding, "That's why I didn't want to tell you!"

Ash laughed, perhaps a bit too loudly. "Okay, okay," he said. "I was just making sure I'd understood your intentions, that's all." He smiled at Eiji, who smiled back.

"We can't get married in Japan yet, though," Eiji said. "We'd have to go back to the States. So it... probably won't be for a while, if that's okay."

"Of course it's okay," Ash replied, adjusting himself so that he could kiss Eiji. "I could wait forever. Let's enjoy Japan for a bit more, and then think about it. No rush, got it?"

Eiji nodded and kissed Ash back. "No rush."

 

* * *

 

A few months into Ash's life in Japan, Sing came to visit them. He'd been busy helping Yut Lung out restoring Chinatown and dealing with what sounded like boring Hong Kong business shit, so he'd told himself he deserved a break. And he'd been wanting to catch up with them, too.

 

Ash and Eiji had agreed to tell Sing about their engagement, despite not having told anyone else yet (Eiji didn't want his family to pester them about when they were getting married, and he was worried his mother wouldn't approve).

 

"Seriously?!" Sing gasped excitedly once they informed him. "That's _awesome_ , guys!" he beamed. "I'm so happy for you!"

Ash and Eiji exchanged a glance and a smile. "Thanks, Sing," Eiji said. "We really don't know when it'll be, but..."

"I got ya!" Sing grinned. "And I won't tell anyone, don't worry!" he added.

 

Ash was glad they had such a good friend in Sing.

 

* * *

 

Ash and Eiji took Sing sightseeing in Tokyo while he was over. Sing had said he felt guilty for interrupting their time together and that he would've been fine with being a sole tourist, but since Ash and Eiji had all the time in the world to be together, they didn't mind showing him around.

 

One day, they were exploring one of Tokyo's many thirty-storey-plus shopping malls. They'd stopped for lunch at a small ramen shop, and Ash was sitting alone while Eiji and Sing had gone to find the nearest bathroom.

 

Then the ground started shaking.

 

Ash froze. This didn't feel right. It took him a second to remember that this was probably one of those earthquakes he'd heard a lot about. Eiji had said they occurred in Japan sometimes.

 

What Eiji hadn't told him was what he was meant to do in an earthquake.

 

Especially one like this, where the ground was still shaking. And it was getting worse.

 

Ash tried to take out his phone to call Eiji, but the shaking was now so intense that it caused him and his chair to wobble and fall sideways on to the floor.

 

"Shit!" Ash hissed, scanning the area around him. People were screaming and trying to run but failing to stay upright. Some were attempting to hide under the tables in the shop, others were clinging on to chairs and counter tops with all their strength.

 

A particularly violent jolt forced Ash's phone to fall out of his hand. Ash tried to scramble for it as it slid away from him, but he felt something land on his head.

 

 _Dust_? No, it wasn't the right consistency for dust.

 

Ash looked up, directly into the ceiling that was beginning to rain down on him and the other shoppers.

 

* * *

 

"Sir? Sir, can you hear me?" An unfamiliar voice was shouting at him in heavily-accented English. Ash took a few seconds to register what the person was saying, and when he did, he slowly opened his eyes. It was dark.

 

A Japanese man dressed in a uniform of some sort wearing a hardhat and one of those face masks was who the voice had belonged to.

 

Ash tried to say something but coughed instead. His throat felt dry and sore.

 

"Sir, please - stay still!" The man instructed him.

 

Stay still? Why? Ash tried to move, but found that he couldn't. He appeared to be trapped under something extremely heavy, and couldn't really feel the lower half of his body.

 

Other than the man, he couldn't make out much. The room was filled with dust, although Ash could vaguely hear the screaming and crying of other people, along with blaring sirens.

 

Then he remembered what had happened.

 

How long had he been lying there? How bad had the earthquake been?

 

...Was Eiji okay? Where was he?

 

"M-M-y..." Ash spluttered, unable to get any words out.

"D-Don't talk, Sir!" The man said. "I'll get water!" He yelled something in Japanese as he stood up and ran off.

 

Ash couldn't think about anything other than Eiji. Had he managed to get out in time? What about Sing? They'd been together.

 

Ash was hit by what Eiji had said to him at the shrine.

 

_"I wished for us to be happy together, forever."_

 

He wanted to scream for Eiji. Yell at the top of his lungs and try and find him. Eiji was alive. He _had_ to be alive.

 

The official returned, holding a water bottle with a straw sticking out the top. "Drink," he said, holding the water bottle in front of Ash's face. Ash drank.

 

Once he'd drunk enough to feel like his throat would work, he tried talking again. "W-Wha..t happen..ed...?" he managed to ask.

"There was big earthquake," the man explained. "A lot of damage. Very bad. Many people died."

 

Many people? Just how many did he mean? Hundreds? Thousands? More than that? Tokyo was densely populated, after all.

 

"It's been three days," he continued. "We only just get permission to search for survivors here. ...Not many survivors."

 

 _Three days_? He'd been unconscious for three fucking days? Eiji was either dead or long gone. Same with Sing.

 

"Have..." Ash asked slowly, not knowing if he wanted to know the truth or not. "Have you... found... E-Eiji..." he coughed again, this time throwing up a splatter of blood. "E-Eiji... O-Ok-Oku... Okumura..."

"I do not know, Sir," the man shook his head sadly. "I am just here to find survivors. I'm sorry, Sir."

"....Okay."

"What's your name, Sir?" He asked. "I need to take note."

What was his name? His mind struggled to think of anything other than Eiji. "As...lan..." he choked. "Aslan Callenreese."

 

He felt his consciousness leave him again.

 

* * *

 

Ash woke up. Somehow, miraculously, he was still alive. The dust had settled now, and he took in the aftermath of the earthquake: rubble scattered the floor in every direction. Nothing resembled what it had once been, except for maybe a couple of chairs. The walls, if they were still standing, looked to be in completely different places than before. The sirens had been turned off, and there was less crying around him.

 

It was impossible to tell how much time had passed. All he knew was that he was hungry and thirsty, and there didn't appear to be any officials nearby. He couldn't feel most of his body anymore.

 

_Eiji... Eiji, please be okay. I love you. You're alive too, right? I know you are. You're trying to find me, aren't you? I'm here. I'm right here. Come rescue me, Eiji. I'll wait here forever, until you find me. You're with Sing, aren't you? Tell him I'm okay. Both of you are okay, too, I'm sure of it._

 

_Eiji... Where are you?_

 

He tried to move again. All he could do was free his right arm, which was numb. It had probably gotten crushed, he thought, as his hand flopped uselessly in front of his face. It reminded him of how Eiji would hold his hands. How Eiji would gently grasp them, telling Ash everything would be okay.

 

Eiji would be right around the corner. Running to him any second. Grabbing his hand again. His hands would be warm, like they always were. Eiji would reassure him in that gentle, calming voice of his.

 

"Ei..ji..."

 

_"I love you, Aslan."_

 

Ash waited. He _had_ to wait for Eiji. Eiji would rescue him.

 

But eventually, his body was unable to wait any longer.


	2. Where is He?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eiji tries to get back to Ash, but Sing decides they should get out of the mall instead.
> 
> Eiji is convinced Ash survived the earthquake and is frustrated that he can't look for him.

"Whoa!" Sing exclaimed, grabbing on to Eiji's shoulder as the ground started shaking. "Is this an earthquake?"

"Y-Yeah..." Eiji said.

 

An earthquake? He'd... explained earthquakes to Ash before. Ash knew what to do in one, surely. And besides, earthquakes happened all the time. This wasn't one to worry--

 

The shaking got stronger. Was this going to be a bad one?

 

"Sing!" Eiji shouted, a feeling of dread filling the pit of his stomach. "We have to get back to Ash!"

"Are you insane?!" Sing yelled back over all the noise. "HOW?"

"I don't care! We _have_ to!"

Eiji pushed Sing off him and started running in the direction of the ramen shop they'd been eating lunch at.

 

He didn't make it very far before the shaking grew even more intense and he fell to the ground. He yelped in pain as the palm of his right hand made direct contact with the floor.

 

"Eiji! Stop!" Sing was beside him again, trying to pull him to his feet. "...You're bleeding," he remarked.

Eiji examined his hand. There was a deep, horizontal cut on his palm. "I don't care," he said. "We're saving Ash."

"NO!" Sing shouted loudly. "We need to get the fuck out of here, Eiji!"

 

Sing didn't understand. Eiji didn't care about what happened to _him_. He wanted to know that Ash was okay. Ash _had_ to be okay.

 

Eiji didn't have the strength to fight Sing off, especially not against the increasingly ferocious tremors. His knees buckled and he knelt on the floor again.

 

"C'mon, Eiji," Sing insisted, this time managing (barely) to pick Eiji up in his arms, despite Eiji being twice the size of Sing. In any other situation, Eiji would've been impressed, but he hadn't even really noticed.

 

His mind was focused on Ash.

 

* * *

 

"Wake up, Eiji!" Sing said as Eiji was shaken awake. He bolted upright and tried to stand up, but Sing stopped him. "Stay still!"

"But--"

"No buts, Eiji!" Sing ordered, grabbing Eiji by his shoulders. "There're still a lotta aftershocks going on. They've said we can't go back into the building -- or what's left of it, anyway..."

"...What's left of it?" Eiji went numb, fearing the worst. If it had been _that_ bad... If the building had collapsed... Then Ash...

"It mostly came down in the quake," Sing explained, releasing his grip on Eiji. "It's only been a few hours, but it's still falling a little more with each aftershock. I went looking for Ash, but I haven't seen him..."

 

Ash must've still been inside, then.

Which meant that Eiji had to go inside. Ash needed to be rescued.

 

"Where are we, Sing?" Eiji asked, feeling nauseous. The last thing he wanted to do was sit around and wait for people to tell him what to do. He realised he could hear the distant blaring of sirens.

"I don't know," Sing answered. "I just kinda panicked and ran as far as I could. We're up a hill -- this is an old school building, I think. I thought there might be a tsunami, so..."

 

Eiji stood up, noticing that the cut on his hand had been wrapped in cloth by Sing. He went and looked out the window. They were quite elevated, looking over an area of Tokyo that Eiji would've previously been able to recognise. A majority of the buildings had been reduced to rubble. Eiji couldn't work out if he could see the remnants of the shopping mall they'd been at.

 

...Ash was alive, right?

 

Eiji took out his phone. There was, predictably, no service. Everyone would be scrambling to call their loved ones, naturally.

 

"I've tried his phone," Sing said. Eiji looked over at him and noticed the bottom of his tshirt was ripped -- it would've been what he'd used to temporarily dress Eiji's wound.

"And?" Eiji asked.

"No luck," Sing shook his head. "It just goes straight to voicemail. Maybe it got smashed in the earthquake..."

 

Eiji sat back down on the cold floor. There were some cracks throughout the walls of the building, but it was hard to tell if they were from this earthquake or previous ones.

 

_Ash..._

 

Eiji prayed to every god he could think of, even the ones he only knew by name.

 

 _Please,_ he begged, quietly yet loudly in his heart, _If you're listening... Please save Ash. Save Aslan Jade Callenreese. You can take me. But I want you to save him. And if you can't save him, please let me... at least get to say goodbye to him. He's the love of my life. Please._

 

Eiji was starting to wonder if any of them even existed. This had been the opposite of what both of them had wished for.

 

* * *

 

They found their way down the hill the next day. Eiji felt nothing. He wasn't allowing himself to feel anything until he knew the truth. The truth that Ash, of course, was alive. That he'd been rescued and taken somewhere safe...

 

Eiji was determined to visit the mall. Even if he wasn't allowed inside, he could at least ask for details.

 

He wanted to scream when what used to be the shopping mall came into view. It had mostly collapsed, and it was impossible to tell if there was anyone inside. Could you even _get_ inside anymore?

 

Eiji slowly approached one of the officials.

 

"Excuse me," he said, forcing his voice to remain stable. "Has... Has anyone been inside?" he asked.

"Not yet, I'm afraid," the official replied, shaking his head. "There are still too many aftershocks, it's too dangerous. We might get crushed if we go in."

"My... My boyfriend's trapped in there!" Eiji was on the verge of tears. He tried to remain calm, but... there was no remaining calm in a situation like this.

"There are lots of people trapped in there, Sir," the official said flatly. "And it's doubtful that many of them have survived."

"You don't know that!" Eiji shouted, despite knowing it was pointless getting mad at someone who was just doing his job. "You have to go in there and save them! You have-"

 

Sing pulled Eiji back from behind. "S-Sorry," he said to the official in English. "Calm _down_ , Eiji!" he hissed at his friend.

Eiji's bottom lip quivered. He took a deep breath. "I'm... sorry..." he told the official (in Japanese) through gritted teeth.

"I understand," the man replied. "I wish I could rescue everyone, too. But we can't risk anyone else dying."

"How long until you'll be able to look for survivors?" Eiji asked quietly.

"I am unsure," the official said. "Once the aftershocks subside and we can create a safe entrance... But by then it may be too late..."

"...I understand, thank you." Eiji did understand, but he wasn't thankful. He wanted to run in the building himself and try and find Ash.

 

Ash was still alive. Eiji could feel it. He knew.

 

* * *

 

That night, they slept in a tent that had been set up by the JSDF (where Eiji also got the cut on his hand properly treated). Not that they got much sleep, as there were people crying all around them, the aftershocks were still frequent and strong and Eiji was too scared to sleep.

 

Ash was nearby. He was right _there_ , even. But Eiji didn't know where he was, and he couldn't see him. The only thing stopping him from finding Ash was the presence of all the police officers. The last thing Eiji wanted was to be arrested.

 

 _It's okay, Ash,_ he thought to himself. _Once I find you, we'll go back to America. We'll get married. Sing and Alex will be out best men. Little Akira will look so cute as a flower girl! I'm sure lots of people will attend. Oh! We haven't even bought engagement rings yet. Maybe I'll get you one with a jade, to match your eyes. That'd be nice. It's a lovely colour..._

 

* * *

 

The aftershocks slowly died down over the course of the next day. It was now day three since the earthquake had struck, and Eiji was in a constant state of dread. They had to get in the building _now_ , otherwise so many more people were going to die.

 

That afternoon, they received an announcement that it was safe for the rescue workers to enter the mall. Eiji felt a wave of relief wash over him. He'd be seeing Ash soon.

 

But things were slow, and there were many people to rescue and many bodies to identify. Whenever an official came back out of the mall, Eiji asked them if they'd found a young blond male. There had been one occasion where they had, but it turned out to have been someone other than Ash.

 

 _Where should we go for our honeymoon, Ash?_ Eiji wondered as he tried to at least get a small amount of sleep. _Hawaii sounds nice, I've always wanted to go there. Or we could go somewhere in the Caribbean. Oh, but we might run into Blanca, and you wouldn't want that..._

 

Sing woke Eiji up early the next morning, just after sunrise.

"What is it, Sing?" Eiji mumbled, yawning.

"They... They've found Ash!" Sing said breathlessly. Eiji's eyes shot wide open -- he was suddenly completely awake.

"And?"

"He's alive!"

 

Eiji almost threw up. "W-Where is he?"

Sing frowned. "Eiji, I need you to listen to me," he said slowly.

"Y-Yeah?" But Ash was alive, what was the problem?

"He's... Trapped. He's stuck under a huge chunk of concrete that fell on him. It's too big to move without bringing in heavy machinery." Sing looked like he wanted to cry.

"S-So they just need to get the heavy machinery, then, right?" Eiji couldn't believe it. Ash was **alive**. And Eiji was going to see him.

"They can't do it with what they currently have on site," Sing said, his voice cracking. "They'll have to bring in some more diggers and bulldozers, and with the current state the roads are in, it's not going to be easy..."

 

_No. No. That's... That's wrong._

 

"Y-You must've misheard them!" Eiji insisted. "Their English isn't very good! I'll go and ask, and--"

"Eiji..." Sing placed a hand on Eiji's shoulder. "It's been four days. They said he's probably broken almost every bone in his body. By the time they get to him, he'll--"

"You don't know that!" Eiji shouted, whacking Sing's hand away. "Ash is strong! He's been through much worse than this!"

" _I KNOW!"_ Sing yelled, sobbing. "I know that! But Eiji... You need to be realistic here! They won't rescue him in time! There are too many other people they have to try and save, too! Ash isn't the only one in there!"

 

Logically, Eiji knew all that. But his heart wasn't listening.

 

He took his uninjured hand and slapped Sing across the cheek with it. While Sing was confused, he stood up and ran out of the tent without saying anything. He didn't look back.

 

" _Excuse me_!" Eiji said loudly to one of the officials standing near the temporary entrance to the mall.

"Yes, Sir?" he asked, confused.

"I... I was told that - that you found..." He took a deep breath and tried to control his voice. "You found... an Aslan Callenreese?" The name felt strange as it left his lips.

"Oh, yes, we have," the official replied, looking through the papers on his clipboard. "However, we'll need to wait until we have more heavy machinery on site to rescue him."

Fuck. "How... How long will that take?" Eiji asked.

"I have been informed that the machines shall arrive tomorrow afternoon," the official explained. "We physically cannot get them here any sooner."

"TOMORROW AFTERNOON?!" Eiji yelled. He didn't care anymore. "THAT'S _TOO LONG_! HE'LL _DIE_!" he wailed, unable to stop himself from crying.

 

"Eiji!" Sing called, running over to him. "What're you doing?!"

"Fuck _off_ , Sing!" Eiji shouted. "I don't _care_ what their excuses are! They need to go in there and save him! Ash needs food!"

"Eiji," Sing said, exhaling. "You're being really fucking stupid right now. I know Ash is important to you, but--"

"NO," Eiji shrieked. "NO, YOU _DON'T_ , SING. I CAN'T LOSE HIM! I _CAN'T_!" he buried his face in his hands, sobbing loudly. "Without... Without Ash, I'm..." He didn't want to think about what he'd be without Ash.

Sing groaned. "Alright, you know what?" Eiji rubbed his eyes with his non-bandaged hand and looked over at him.

"What?"

 

Sing turned to the official. "Could you please at least let us go and speak with our friend?" he asked slowly. "We can take someone in there with us. We'd just like to tell him that we're okay."

"I'll... ask for permission," the man replied. "Please wait here until I come back."

 

"...Sorry, Sing," Eiji said with an extremely shaky voice.

"No, I'm sorry too," Sing replied. "But when we get in there... I want to look first. If... If I think it's too awful for you, I'll let you know. Otherwise, you'll be able to see him. Okay?"

It wasn't _really_ okay, but Eiji didn't want to waste this chance. "Got it."

 

The official returned some time later with one of the rescuers. "Yamamoto said he will guide you."

The rescuer Yamamoto gave a deep bow (Eiji and Sing both bowed back) and led them inside.

 

It grew darker and darker as they went further into the remains of the building. Eventually, they could only see what was illuminated by Yamamoto's flashlight, and the lights of the other rescuers. Eiji was, in many ways, pleased he couldn't see anything. They'd been instructed to take very specific paths, and every so often more rubble fell down from what was left of the ceiling. Sometimes they'd pass by somebody who was still alive and trapped, their cries echoing throughout the ruins.

 

_Hold on, Ash... I'm nearly there. I'm here to save you. You'll be okay, right? You're waiting for me. I know you are. You've been strong and brave but it's okay. Once you're out of here, we'll go back to America. I want to get married now so that we can spend our forevers together. I'm always with you. You're nearby, I can tell. I can feel you, Ash._

 

Yamamoto stopped and informed them that the person they were looking for was just ahead. Sing followed Yamamoto around the corner, leaving Eiji alone.

 

Ash was so, so close. Eiji could sense him. It wasn't too long now. He'd be touching Ash again any moment. They'd be reunited and Eiji would be reassuring him that everything would be okay.

 

_Aslan... I love you, Aslan._

 

Yamamoto came back into view, followed by Sing. Who looked... Eiji couldn't quite make out his expression.

 

"Sin--"

 

Sing squeezed Eiji in a tight embrace. He was trembling.

 

_No._

 

"You can't, Eiji," Sing sobbed. "You can't."

 

_No--_

 

Eiji shoved Sing off him. Against his better judgement, he grabbed Yamamoto's flashlight out of his hands (before Yamamoto had a chance to react) and ran around the corner.

 

He knew instantly that it was Ash, despite only being able to see his blond hair. Eiji was shaking. He knelt down, putting the flashlight on the ground next to him.

 

"Ash..." he whispered, knowing that Ash was just unconscious. "Ash, it's me, Eiji. I've come to save you. Sorry it's taken me so long..."

 

Eiji noticed one of Ash's hands was lying on the floor in front of his face.

 

"Aslan," Eiji said, reaching over to grasp Ash's hand in his. "I love you. It's ok--"

 

Ash's hand was cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ash's hand is as cold as my heart <3

**Author's Note:**

> Don't worry I feel shitty too lol.


End file.
